Breaking News: LAUSD Board Reappoints Critic of iPad Fiasco
Tonight the Los Angeles school board voted 4-2 to reappoint architect Stuart Magruder to the Bond Oversight Committee. He had previously been kicked off the committee by the board because he was too critical of Superintendent Deasy’s decision to borrow nearly $1 billion for iPads from a bond fund dedicated to construction and repairs. The iPads were to be used for Common Core testing. Magruder tho
Fairtest: The Fight Against Test Madness Continues
Fairtest reports on the trench warfare against the measure-and-punish mentality inspired by NCLB and Race to the Top. Test lovers are offering the olive branch of a moratorium on the punishment phase, but the warriors for better education are not appeased. Bob Shaeffer reports: There’s no “summer break” for testing resistance campaigns as pressure builds on policy-makers across the nation to end s
When Arne Duncan Brought His Snake Oil to Charleston
When Arne Duncan went to South Carolina, he probably expected to meet the usual compliant, uninformed business crowd. But Patrick Hayes of EdFirstSC was waiting to meet him, hear him, and ask questions. And Hayes is neither compliant nor uninformed. Hayes writes: Ever seen a weasel tap dance? Would you like to? Well, here it is: me vs. Arne Duncan. My first thought when I left was that I should’v
EduShyster on “Knowledge Ventriloquism”
EduShyster here interviews Ken Zeichner of the University of Washington about teacher education. They talk about the NCTQ report, whose findings were predetermined by its political agenda (I.e., university-based teacher preparation bad, alternative preparation good). Zeichner says that no other country–certainly no high-performing country–has gone full-throttle for alternative teacher preparatio
What is NCTQ?
With the release of the NCTQ ratings of teacher preparation programs, this is a propitious time to review its origins. It was created by the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute. It floundered, then was rescued by a grant of $5 million from Secretary of Education Rod Paige in the early days of the Bush administration. It is not a research organization. It is an advocacy organization. Its jud
Writing Expert: Computer Scoring by PARCC-Pearson Tests Is Fundamentally Flawed
Les Perelman, who was in charge of MIT’sWriting Across the Curriculum program, wrote this opinion piece for the Boston Globe. Perelman said that student essays written for the PARCC test, created by Pearson, would be scored by computers. Unfortunately, the computer scorers are unable to detect the meaning of language. Instead, they rely on length, grammar, and other measurable elements. So, he s
Mother Crusader Follows the Money in Vergara
Mother Crusader, written by New Jersey parent Darcie Cimarusti, determined to find out who was putting up the millions to beat teacher tenure and seniority in California. She examined the 990 tax forms for “Students Matter, the organization that led the battle against the California Teachers Union. Students Matter spent more than $3 million from 2010-2012; the amount spent in 2013-14 has not yet
Louisiana: Civil Rights Activists Call for John White’s Resignation
Civil rights activists lodged a federal complaint about abuses of the rights of African-American children in the Recovery School District. State Commissioner of Education John White referred to their complaint as a “farce” and a “joke.” The complaint, written by Karran Harper Royal of the Coalition for Community Schools and Frank Buckley of Conscious Concerned Citizens Controlling Community Cha
David Sudmeier: USA Today Permits Hate Speech
David Sudmeier accurately portrays the vile advertisement in USA Today as hate speech directed against teachers. He posted this commentary on the blog. The Crucible Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible survives to this day as a metaphor for accusations without merit that damage reputations and lives. The advertisement that appeared in USA Today after the Vergara decision contained such an accusation,
Mercedes Schneider: Get Ready for the NCTQ Ratings of Ed Schools
Mercedes Schneider wants to give you a heads-up about the NCTQ scorecard, and she does it here. Learn about the organization and its board in this post. As she concludes: “NCTQ remains a well-funded, well-advertised, corporate-reform-promoting facade. Its bogus teacher training program ratings will appear in Mortimer Zuckerman’s US News and World Report, complete with search engine headed with
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-16-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Why the Los Angeles School Board Ousted Stuart MagruderColumnist Steve Lopez of the Los Angeles Times explains why the school board did not reappoint Stuart Magruder to the “independent” Bond Oversight Committee: He asked too many questions about why Superintendent Deasy was tapping the school bond fund to buy iPads instead of spen